Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2008-09: Simon Karlsson competed in 26 games for Karlskrona HK at the U18 and U20 levels in Sweden and skated for Blekinge in the national TV-Pucken tournament for high school age players. He scored 4 goals with 8 assists and 60 PMs with Karlskrona HK and had 1 assist and 16 PMs in eleven games for Blekinge.

2009-10: Debuted with Malmo J20 in the SuperElit league appearing in 3 games and notching a single assist.

2010-11: Played most of the season with Malmo J20, scoring 3 goals and 10 assists in 34 regular season contests as well as going scoreless in 5 postseason games. He also skated in 4 games with Malmo’s big club in the Allskaven without registering a point.

2011-12: Karlsson played most of the season with Malmö J20 of the SuperElit, scoring six goals along 22 assists and a poor minus 11 rating while taking 62 PIMs in 48 games. He again skated in four games without any points for the big club in the Allsvenskan.

Talent Analysis

Karlsson is still growing and developing, although he shows promise as a smooth skating, puck moving defenseman with offensive upside. He’s still raw and will need to build more strength, but the tools all appear to be there for him to become a quality blueliner.

Future

Karlsson has returned to Sweden and does not appear to be a bona fide NHL prospect at this point.

Photo: Miikka Salomaki plays a rambunctious style of hockey, but next season should see his offensive game grow (courtesy of Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire)

The Nashville Predators entered the 2011 NHL Draft without a first-round pick – having dealt their pick to Ottawa late in the 2010-11 season. Even considering just the short-term gain — Mike Fisher, obtained from the Senators, was Nashville’s third-leading scorer and helped the Predators win a playoff series for the first time in franchise history — that trade would have to go down as one of the best in franchise history.

Photo: Detroit Red Wings forward prospect Mattias Janmark-Nylen (#24), shown here in action with Sweden at the 2013 Karjala Cup, has been scoring a a point-per-game clip for AIK this season (courtesy of Janerik Henriksson/AFP/Getty Images)

The first quarter of the Swedish Hockey League’s 2013-14 season has come and passed, and there’s plenty to be happy about in the scouting community. The number of young, recently drafted players currently dotting the rosters of both SHL and Allsvenskan (second highest men’s professional league in Sweden) clubs is about as impressive as ever, as professional teams continue to have little concern about going to battle with line-ups that often only feature an average age of 23-25.

Photo: Finnish defenseman Mikko Vainonen, the Predators' fourth round pick in 2012, is in his first season of North American hockey with the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs. (courtesy of Aaron Bell/OHL Images)

The Nashville Predators have six prospects at the junior level this year; two in the OHL, one in the QMJHL, two in the WHL and one in the USHL. The four forwards are split into two big defensive shutdown checkers and two smaller, feisty offensively skilled playmakers that are led by Nashville's 2012 second round selection Colton Sissons and third round pick Brendan Leipsic.